Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-03-21
BUTTING AGAINST AN ICEBERG.
Big Hole Made in the Steamer Hartville's
Bow-CoIli>ion IN the Moonlight " hiie
in Mid.Ocean.
HALIFAX, N. S.. March 10

HALIFAX, N. S., March 10.
The steamer Hartv,lle, Capt. w. G. Bat.
tram, sailed from Norfolk, Va, for Liverpool
two weeks ago yesterday. To day she lies in
HALIFAX hsrbor with yawnine hole in he,
DOW. inflicted in mid-ocesn by collision with
an iceberg. The Hartville has a cargo OF
cotton, loo bales OF which had to be throw n
oSerooard to tighten the forepart of the shir
and liit the gaping aperture out of the water
Inc disaster occurred about . o'clock Fri
day night, llth inst. The steamer wss out.
side Newfoundland banks, lat. 43 deg. 20
min., Ion. A deg.
1t was a clear moonlight night, not cloud
obscuring the sky, and Capt. Battrsm, no,
feeling we'll, had retired very early. Abou,
O'Clock the stoppage of the engines brouyh,
him from his berth. and he was Just mount
ing the compsnionwsy to the deck when a
sudden shock made the ship shver from stem
10 stern. There was grinding, pounding
sensation for few moments, and then the
vessel came almost 10 dead standstill The
engines had been slowe ed down on account of
being too much .eated, and hardly had the
machinery ceased moving when the biov was
struck.
Tue steamer had pounded against a large
iceberg, thirty feet high and fifty or sixty feet
long, but the second officer, who was on the
lookout. did not know il until TOO late. Not
until the shock occurred was he aware of its
coming, and he asserts that the rays of the
moon, falling on the iceberg from directly
overhead. prevented him from seeing it
When Capt Battram reached the deck, the
steamer was moving past the perilous obstruc
ton to her pathway, snd another berg of
about the same size was seen a short distance
north. The force OF the blow was almost as
/ = a
speed ahead, as between the moment they
stopped and the moment of the collision there
was no perceptibie slackening of headwav.
The steamer lay to all night, the officers
being unable to ascertain the extent of the
damage. In the morning inve.tigation dis
| closed great hole in the port bow, four feet
square, reaching from water line to deck
Four plates were gone, and the sea WAS wash.
ing int the forward comp plrtment, which had
filled 10 the level of the water line. The
| steamer was at once headed for Halifax, 675
miles distant, and the work of tightening her
proceeded with, $50 bales of cotton being
taken from the fore hold and jettisoned, to
gether with number OF bags of bark and a
quantity of slaves and spokes from the fore
peak. quantity of bark in the lower fore
peak WAS packed firmly against the water
tight bulkhead to prevent the sea bursting il
in, and the ship proceeded cautiously to avoid
danger of getting more water in below.
On Sunday stormy weather prevailed and
the steamer hove TO, but the remainder of the
time the weather proved favorable, and she
arrived safely in port this morning rh,
Hartvile had abou; 1915 bales of cotton or
board when she left Norfolk. She is of lac
tons register, was built in 1879, is owned b,
Graves Mclean of West ilartlepool, anC
carries crew Of twentv-one men. She viii
like y undergo an official survey on Monday